Routledge
160 pages
Psychoanalysis is concerned with the vicissitudes of life: loss, grief, mourning, guilt and also with reparation and creativity, with death and rebirth, as is the work of Shakespeare. These papers link the Bard's universe to psychoanalytic thought and practice and show us how much both worlds have in common. In today's world we are moved by Shakespeare's plays whose themes are brought to life with a richness and creativity that has not dimmed with the passing of time. Echoing Freud's fascination with Shakespeare, Michael Conran, Peter Hildebrand, Gerald Wooster, and Peter Buckroyd find much to feast on in King Lear, Twelfth Night, All's Well That Ends Well, The Tempest, Macbeth, and The Winter's Tale. The interplay of inner and outer world, inner and outer reality, brings about a rich tapestry of conflicts, desires, anxieties, challenges and resolutions that were as true then as they are now.
Introduction -- Psychoanalysis and theatre -- Grief, loss, and creativity: whither the Phoenix? -- The Caledonian tragedy -- Some considerations of shame, guilt, and forgiveness derived principally from King Lear -- The other side of the wall. A psychoanalytic study of creativity in later life -- Prospero's book
Psychoanalytic Ideas is a series which bring together the best of Public Lectures and other writings given by analysts of the British Psycho-Analytical Society on important psychoanalytical subjects. The focus of this series is to communicate some of the intellectual excitement about the past, present, and future of psychoanalytic ideas. The series aims to help make these ideas accessible to an even larger group of students, scholars, and practitioners worldwide.